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Fantastic Four Artist Edition Question
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Not sure if this is the right place for the question but I assume most original art collectors would have some of these Artist Edition books.  I'm thinking about picking up a Jack Kirby Artist Edition book and realized there were two different ones ( Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four World’s Greatest Artist’s Edition HC  and Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four: Artist’s Edition HC).  Just wondering for those that own or have read both which one blew your mind more?  I realize they are probably both amazing (It's Jack Kirby afterall), but if you had to pick one which one would you choose?  

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One is large art (The World's Great Artist Edition), the other one standard art . They are both amazing, both showcase some amazing issues, including some classic Doom and Inhumans moments in both books.  Personally I prefer the small art one as its has more consistent art, IMHO, all Sinnott inks.  I also like later Kirby as his style had become even more distinctive by then.  The large art one has one issue inked by Stone, which is not a favourite of mine on Kirby (personal tastes). The large art one, though, has an incredible fold out of Dr Doom which in itself would deserve the price as a standalone poster.  Also, conventional wisdom has it that that is the peak Kirby period.

So, most people would say go for the large art one, I suppose.

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1 hour ago, Carlo M said:

One is large art (The World's Great Artist Edition), the other one standard art . They are both amazing, both showcase some amazing issues, including some classic Doom and Inhumans moments in both books.  Personally I prefer the small art one as its has more consistent art, IMHO, all Sinnott inks.  I also like later Kirby as his style had become even more distinctive by then.  The large art one has one issue inked by Stone, which is not a favourite of mine on Kirby (personal tastes). The large art one, though, has an incredible fold out of Dr Doom which in itself would deserve the price as a standalone poster.  Also, conventional wisdom has it that that is the peak Kirby period.

So, most people would say go for the large art one, I suppose.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.  I figured the later Kirby issues might have more of his mature art work, but the earlier work in the oversized one are the more classic issues.  I believe the oversized one contains more covers and pin ups?  I'm slightly leaning towards the standard size due to annual #6, it is such as classic issue and the art in it is fantastic! 

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I'm sure it comes down to which stories you'd like to see deconstructed - they're both pretty impressive.  The  small sized one is all Sinnott inks,  and the art looks amazing -- it's all mature Silver Age Kirby-- but I'm very slightly fonder of the large-sized book, as you can track Jack's changing storytelling from 1962 to 1966.  Neither is a tragedy to own.

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What a great dilemma to have.  You cannot make a wrong choice.

I personally think the FF World's Greatest twice up is one of the finest collectables I have purchased in the last 30 years.  It's stunning.  My suggestion is buy the twice up and then (for now) buy the other book in the Artisan Edition (soon to come according to IDW) for around $50.

Then save all your lunch and allowance moneys for the next year and buy the second one :)  Its modern size, and wonderful. But something about twice up rules.....

I own 8 IDW Artist's Editions.  I only buy titles I want to own, not completing any type of set.  I think they are way overlooked as a means for those of us not willing/able to spent the tens, or even hundreds of thousands required now to purchase prime Silver and EC original art.  The twice up FF book is by far my favorite IDW edition, only slightly ahead of the stunning Wally Wood book (also available in a smaller paperback edition.) 

I don't know if IDW sells hundreds or thousands of these books, but they represent a soon to be lost art... being printed on actual paper in such a large format.  I have no connection to IDW,  but I think some of these editions are really true collectables/investments on their own.

Mark in Pittsburgh

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18 hours ago, mking78 said:

What a great dilemma to have.  You cannot make a wrong choice.

I personally think the FF World's Greatest twice up is one of the finest collectables I have purchased in the last 30 years.  It's stunning.  My suggestion is buy the twice up and then (for now) buy the other book in the Artisan Edition (soon to come according to IDW) for around $50.

Then save all your lunch and allowance moneys for the next year and buy the second one :)  Its modern size, and wonderful. But something about twice up rules.....

I own 8 IDW Artist's Editions.  I only buy titles I want to own, not completing any type of set.  I think they are way overlooked as a means for those of us not willing/able to spent the tens, or even hundreds of thousands required now to purchase prime Silver and EC original art.  The twice up FF book is by far my favorite IDW edition, only slightly ahead of the stunning Wally Wood book (also available in a smaller paperback edition.) 

I don't know if IDW sells hundreds or thousands of these books, but they represent a soon to be lost art... being printed on actual paper in such a large format.  I have no connection to IDW,  but I think some of these editions are really true collectables/investments on their own.

Mark in Pittsburgh

Good Advice! I didn't know the Artisan Edition was coming out for the regular edition.  Curious to know which other IDW Artist Editions you own?  I have the Born Again one (one of my fav stories) and also the Mark Schultz one.  I would love to buy more as these are stunning collection but they also do take alot of space!

 

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Both Kirby FF books, Kirby Thor, Steranko Fury, Best of EC 1 & 2, Wood, Marvel Heroes and Monsters.  And the important thing is I look at them often, a poor man's way to own original art!

And as I have mentioned here before, hoping for the next Steranko book after 7 years of waiting.  And hoping for a Ditko Spidy book someday.

Mark

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BIG BOOK
Sinnott is bomb. This book is not all-Sinnott and the other one is. BUT there is plenty of Sinnott included, and the variety of inkers for this type of thing is actually an advantage over Sinnott-only IMO.
You can see how different guys treated Kirby's work, and also how Kirby's style evolved over time.

 

Edited by J.Sid
I was wrong!
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On 1/16/2020 at 5:00 PM, KirbyJack said:

The only Artist’s Edition I own is the small art Kirby. I love it and recommend it highly, but I’m biased. FF annual 6 is my favorite comic of all time. 

FF annual 6 is a great book.  I posted a write-up about it some time back.
P.S.  I knew what your response would be  :smile:

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I personally think Kirby’s style was evolving throughout all of his FF run, and it is not only Sinnott’s contribution or workload. Then you can follow the development through his DC years and the Marvel comeback. I like his very stylized art in the mid ‘70s , but if I were to pick the absolute peak I would also go with FF annual 6. Just perfect.

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I kinda liked Kirby's work better before the switch to smaller art pages.  His artwork seemed more comfortable when generated in twice-up and he seemed - I dunno - more constrained by the change to a smaller format.

But yeah, FF Ann 6 is a masterpiece in storytelling and art!  

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